


Happily Ever After

by SeijiShun



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Angst, Don't know what I'm doing but fairy tales are cute, Fairy Tale Logic, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I just want them to be happy, I suck at naming, It's based on Sleeping beauty???, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Prince!Connor, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Suicide Attempt, True Love, True Love's Kiss, but not really, i mean kinda, it's fairytale what do you want, maybe smut at some point, prince!Evan, sorry it's our first fic, they are all royalty, um tags might be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 10:39:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11598927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeijiShun/pseuds/SeijiShun
Summary: Kinda based on the Sleeping Beauty AU but not really??A boy who doesn't believe in magic is cursed into sleep, but maybe his true love will come to find him?...Fuck that, no one cares and no one's gonna come to save him cause he is a freak.(In which Connor thought he's going to live forever alone but Evan proves him wrong.)





	1. Isolated Prince

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a story my friend and I come up with together. I'm not really a writer and English isn't our native language, so there may be mistakes or something. But still, I really hope you can enjoy it like a fairy tale.

Not long after Connor was born, a witch cast a spell on him. She cursed the infant prince: on his sixteenth birthday, he will succumb to a death-like sleep and can only be awakened by true love's kiss.

For all these years, other than the overly worry from his mother, this boring "curse" never really caused Connor any trouble. After all, he didn’t even know if magic (as weird and fairytale-ish as it is) really existed or not. It wasn’t until his 16th birthday, when he passed out in front of everyone, that they suddenly realized the curse was real.

The news about the sleeping prince had quickly spread through the whole palace. Everyone in the court was discussing about it. They discussed about how Queen Cynthia moved Connor back to his room, but had no idea where to find his true love’s kiss, and how she could only sit beside the bed with tears and despair. Days turned into weeks, then finally a month had past, the prince still showed no sign of awakening.

The King could not stand to see the haggard face of his wife. Eventually, he ordered to send Prince Connor to the high tower at the edge of the castle and forbad anyone from visiting him, even the queen. 

However, the one thing that nobody knew was that, although the spell had come on time, there happened to be one mistake—it failed to make the prince fall into sleep.

※

 

Connor opened his eyes in an unfamiliar room. With no surprise or confusion in his eyes, he sat up to exercise his neck and shoulder muscles in order to adjust the stiffness. The past month had really tired him out. 

Actually, on his birthday, Connor's unconsciousness only lasted for a few hours. He stayed confused for a while after he woke up in the evening, and then he noticed his mother sitting beside his bed. Even though she was asleep with tiredness, there’s still a frown on her face. Which wasn’t too surprising to Connor, since everyone held this expression when he was around.

He always knew that he was an awful prince, an absolute disgrace as a member of the royal family. He couldn’t control himself like a normal person. The whole kingdom would probably be thrilled if a freak like him just disappeared forever. About at this point, Connor realized that maybe the eternal sleep wasn’t a bad idea.

After making up his mind, Connor started to fake his sleep. Surprisingly, his body function, as the spell suggested, went into sleep; He couldn’t feel any hunger or even thirst. It did give him a lot more convenience, since all he had to do was to get up and walk around after Cynthia left, in case he got muscular atrophy.

It did give him a lot of free time to do whatever he wanted now that he had been thrown here. A mere trace of a bitter smile crossed his lips, he looked around the room where he might spend the rest of his life. The orange light from the sunset slipped through the small window on the stone wall and landed on the carpet floor.

With the help of the light, Connor found that the decoration here is a lot like his old bedroom, even the desk is in the same place beside his bed. His bookshelves were also moved here and arranged along the walls. Connor was pretty much dead to most people at this point, so decorating this room seemed to be a waste of time. He knew only his mother would do something like this. She probably was hoping that he could rest with the things he loved. When Connor came to this presumption, it made his heart sink.

Cynthia’s effort was proved to be useful in the days after. Connor’s life in the tower was indeed isolated but comfortable; he read books in the daytime, and stared out of the window after the sky went dark, since they didn’t give him any candles. His days repeated like waves with no meaning.

One day, when he peeked down through the window, he found that the guards under the tower seemed to be reduced. And after a few days, there was no longer any guards to keep his safety. It seemed that he had been abandoned. Connor didn’t let himself think more of it, since he had seen this coming from the start.

The days in terrible stillness lasted for almost a year. Just as Connor thought the boredom was going to drive him crazy, the sounds of two people's footsteps coming from the staircase pierced through the silence of the room.


	2. An unexpected visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan came, but he wasn't THAT kind of prince.

“Prince Evan, you can’t imagine how happy I was when I saw your letter. I am truly sorry for the short notice, but I really hope you can wake Connor up.”

  
  
Cynthia smiled kindly to him, which forced Evan to return the smile awkwardly. He couldn’t help but wonder how he got himself into this situation.

 

Evan had no idea how the hell Jared got the love letter he wrote when he was drunk as a lord several years ago, and that Jared would even go to the Mercury Kingdom trying to give that goddamn letter to Prince Connor. Now that Cynthia knew about Evan, she grasped him like the last straw, begging him to try the so-called “true love’s kiss.”

 

God knew how complicated Evan’s feeling was right now. It was like a mix of guilt and concern, but among those, a little bit of anticipation. He tried not to make his footsteps seemed too fainted and followed Cynthia through the stone steps to the top of the tower.

 

Behind the door at the end of the stone steps, a spacious stone room came into Evan’s view; Lots of bookshelves stood tidily along the walls, all surrounding a comfortable king-size bed in the middle of the room. On the bed was the teenager lying coldly still, quiet in his death like sleep. The sight made Evan miss the warmth Connor once gave him even more.

 

They walked to the side of the bed. Separated from her son for almost a year, Cynthia was lost in thoughts for a second when she saw Connor again. Evan could see the reflection in her eyes almost drowned with sadness, but she quickly covered it and tried to speak steadily.

 

“...Connor has changed a lot in the past years... It may strike you as a surprise, but he used to love going outside and running and...making jokes and everything!…Others may not believe it, but as a mother, I know. I know that boy with his everlasting smile is still there somewhere.”

 

Cynthia stopped for a while as if she was adjusting her emotions. Evan felt that she had something more to say, but he kept quiet for politeness. The helpless silence reminded him of his mother. Every of their private talks included an awkward hesitation just like this.

 

While Evan zoned out, Cynthia seemed to have decided to lighten the mood up a bit. Suddenly, her eyes were filled with sparkles, like she remembered her last hope, and looked straight into Evan’s eyes.

 

“Prince Evan, your letter have proved to me that you understand as I do. I know my request is beyond abrupt and indecorous, but you are my only hope!”

 

Looking at the woman who had trusted him with everything, Evan couldn’t find any ways to tell her just how unlikely that he would be useful in this situation. Any rejection at this point seemed so heavy that it could crush the flickering light in her eyes and leave nothing there, not even the slightest wave.   
  
“I, I think I n-need some time…”

There was a slight disappointment which crossed Cynthia’s face. But she managed to understand Evan’s uneasiness, so she made sure to keep the smile on her face.

 

“Of course…… Prince Evan, please don’t feel any pressure. You can stay in the castle to rest a few days before you’re ready.”

 

Just as she finished the sentence, a guard came into the room and whispered into Cynthia’s ear. She looked surprised by what she heard, and couldn’t help but knit her brows in thought. Evan noticed her frowning brows looked really similar to  Connor’s, but soon realized it was a rude thing to think about, and pursed his lips as he looked down.

 

“Prince Evan, there is something the king and I need to attend to immediately. We will have to go to the border area as soon as possible. It would take us at least half a month to finish the business. I really hope we can talk more after I come back, but for now, I’m afraid I have to leave.”

 

Cynthia told Evan that he was more than welcome to stay. But if he wanted to leave, all he had to do was to leave some words to the grand chamberlain, she said with a faint smile. Evan knew that she wanted him to stay, but he didn’t promise anything, just mumbled out an ok.

 

With the guard hastening her by her side, Cynthia slightly bent herself to excuse her leave to Evan before exiting the room. Evan took a deep breath soon after the whole “interacting” thing was over. Finally, he had the chance to calm himself down for the first time since he had arrived.

 

It took him some effort to find the courage to look deep into Prince Connor’s face. He could still find some trace of the time they first met on his face, even though they hadn’t seen each other for a long time until now. After all these years, his face became more mature and even showed some signs of tiredness. The prince looked peaceful in his sleep. However, knowing that the peacefulness was a facade which would remain forever, Evan felt like there was a heavy punch on his chest, painful and hard to breathe.

 

No, Prince Connor’s sleep should end after the true love’s kiss.

 

“True love’s kiss…”

 

As the thought emerged, Evan turned to look at Connor’s pale lips. Just a light touch and then the curse would break. This condition seemed so easy, it almost drove Evan to kiss him right now in order to find back the color of his skin, but he didn’t dare to think any further. Evan bit his down lip so hard it nearly bleeded, trying to replace the thought in his head with pain.

 

“C’mon, how can someone like me be his true love…… It would be a miracle if he even remembers me…”

 

Evan mumbled, as he stood up and left the bedside. He curled himself into a ball in the corner beside the desk with a deep depression covering him like a shadow. It turned out that, even though all these years had past, he didn’t grow up at all. He’s still as weak and useless as before, still that broken prince like the time they met. At the end, he couldn’t even save the person he wanted to save……He messed up his sandy hair despairingly.

 

But when Evan lifted his head up again and saw Connor’s dark hair lying beside the bed, he couldn’t help but think of those comforting words he received when he was in trouble.

 

Evan decided to give himself a mission.

 

Since he couldn’t wake the sleeping prince up, the least thing he could do was to stay by his side for a while. Even someone like him could chase away the dullness in this tower, he guessed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here, I drew another one](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/post/163564388308/happily-ever-after-chapter-2-i-really-enjoy)  
>  Come talk us on [Tumblr](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/)!! <3


	3. Picture-perfect Afternoon...?

The rest of the day passed by quickly with Evan reading aloud a book and talking to himself. It seemed that he decided reading something for Connor would be a good way to kill time. Although Connor had finished that book already, he couldn’t complain much when someone volunteered to read it for him.

 

Evan didn’t leave until dusk. The last time Connor lay in the bed all day was almost a year ago. So when he finally got up from bed, he swore he could hear the cracking sound from his bones. But somehow, he felt much lighter inside compared to his physical tiredness.

 

Evan kept saying that Connor wouldn’t remember him, but actually he did.

 

He could still remember running into that forest at the end of spring and the quiet afternoon he spent.

 

He could still remember that boy with a nervous but sincere smile.

 

※

 

That year’s annual International conference was longer than usual.

 

Connor didn’t hesitate too long before he decided to sneak out the conference room. Why bother to stay inside when he had no use other than being an entertainment for all the other royalties to sneer and judge?

 

He had no idea where he should go, but anywhere would be fine as long as he could be far away from this hypocritical and disgusting occasion. He hopped on his horse and rode all the way to the nearby forest of the host kingdom. Driven by his irritation, Connor ended up dipping himself deep into the woods.

 

After a while, Connor couldn’t even identify the edge of the forest, but it didn’t bother him a bit. After all, there was no need of thinking about how he could go back for now. And in fact, he didn’t think it would be a big deal if he never made it back.

 

The deserted woods seemed so quiet, yet so vibrant for the lively animals and bugs during the summer. All the rustles around Connor annoyed him even more. It seemed like he could never find peace anywhere.

 

_ Bang. _

 

All of a sudden, a huge thud sound interrupted his turbulent thoughts.

 

“What the……?”

 

It took a while for Connor to react to the sudden incident. A few moments after, he noticed that there was an abrupt shadow underneath a tree not far from him. The scene kind of reminded him of the horror fiction he had read before. But since the evil spirits usually tend to avoid appearing in a bright afternoon, he got a closer look and realized it’s someone lying on the ground. Connor tied the rein of his horse to a nearby branch and decided to go check on that person.

 

It appeared to be a boy around his age, who seemed to have fallen down from the tree. His fine clothes, which did not match the surroundings at all, were smeared with dirt. His sandy hair even had a few leaves in it. And, a painful expression spread all over his face. Fortunately, he landed on a rather smooth area of the ground, or else Connor would see an even worse scenario.

 

“Ugh……”

 

After a few minutes, the boy finally came back to consciousness, but could not move any of his muscles yet. For now, it was hard for him to do anything except letting out some painful moans, and that was when Connor realized he should maybe say something to him.

 

“Um, are you alright?”

 

The other didn’t seem to have noticed Connor’s existence until now. He jumped a bit, but quickly relaxed after knowing that there was someone here to help him out.  Turning his head slightly to the side, the boy finally focused his gaze on Connor and soon tensed up again as he recognized his face.

 

“P-Prince Connor……?”

 

_ Oh great, this guy knows me, no wonder he looks so terrified.  _ Connor was a bit displeased by the reaction. In other cases, he would probably just storm away as usual, but the boy’s injuries left him no choice. So, he tried to pull out his patience and spoke again.

 

“Are you hurt?”

 

“I, I fell down from the tree… And, um, I think my-my left arm might be br-broken or s-something…”

 

The boy seemed to have convinced himself to muster up the courage and respond. His voice was like a whisper, almost covered by all the noises in the forest. Even though he tried very hard to explain what had happened, he was too nervous and could barely finish his sentence normally.

 

“Well,  that's the saddest fucking thing I've ever heard.”

 

Hearing Connor’s sarcastic tone, the boy bit his lip awkwardly and quiet down. He clearly didn’t want to continue this topic. Not that Connor cared to anyway.

 

“Can you get up?”

 

“Yeah, I, uh…I think I can…”

 

When the boy was about to sit up, Connor casually reached out his hand. He did it out of subconsciousness, after all, he knew that most people wouldn’t even dare to take his hand based on his reputation. Yet, the blonde boy just took his hand without any hesitation and made him the one who did a double take to react. Connor wasn’t used to the warmth in his hand, but he didn’t hate that.

 

No sooner had Connor pulled the boy up from the ground, when he found that the various plant pattern on the boy’s heavy, formal suit looked exactly like the national costume of their neighbouring kingdom. A peculiar thought emerged from his mind.

 

“......What’s your name?”

 

“Huh? Oh, uh, I’m Evan…...Evan Hansen.”

 

_ And it really is Prince Evan from next door? _ Connor slightly raised his eyebrow. He didn’t expect there would be someone like him sneaking out from the conference, and definitely didn’t expect the prince from the Ceres Kingdom to be like this. But he guessed the most bizarre thing was that he would end up meeting this person in this big-ass forest.   
  
"Um, thank you…”

 

Prince Evan clutched his numbing left arm, avoiding Connor’s eyes and staring down at the grass. But despite his nervous look, Evan’s voice was now more relaxed than the beginning. Connor didn’t notice it, but his irritation had also nearly gone at this point. 

 

Just when Connor was going to offer to send Evan back to the castle for some treatment, they suddenly sensed some wetness on their skin. The thunder started to rumble in a distance, and the lightning flashed from the sky above; the afternoon thunder shower commonly seen in this season did live up to its name. In less than a few seconds, the rain began to pour like an army invading. Eventually, forced by the downpour, the two princes could only take their horses to the tree hole Evan had found earlier.

 

Connor picked up a proper branch from the ground and held Evan’s broken arm in position, which was according to a book he had read about. This rough treatment couldn’t alleviate Evan’s pain, but that’s the only way to prevent the injury from worsening.

 

In the tree hole, where everything was dry and nice, the two young boys sat quietly by each other’s side. It had been too long since the last time Connor was alone with someone. Unless it was necessary, usually no one would want to stay in the same room with him, let alone a narrow space like this. Thinking of it, Connor took a glance at Evan and saw a face drowned with sorrow.

 

Evan was staring into the pouring rain. In the greenish blue eyes of his, Connor could tell that it wasn’t the fear and alertness from earlier, nor the painfulness caused by his left arm. There was something in that sadness which Connor felt familiar with. It presented a sense of presence so strong that he couldn’t find a way to ignore.

 

Connor couldn’t even remember the last time he cared about a stranger, but this time, before he could do anything to stop himself, the question in his head escaped his lips heedlessly.

 

“......Are you okay there?”

 

“......! I’m, um, yeah, I-I’m fine!” Evan seemed to be startled by his question. He quickly straightened up his body while rubbing his eyes with his right hand, flustered. But actually, if it wasn’t for his action, Connor wouldn’t even notice he was crying.

 

Without any further questions, Connor merely looked calmly into Evan’s eyes. He knew that, sometimes, the weight of pushing something deep inside could be overwhelming, but it would even hurt more to tell anyone about it. Therefore, although he had asked about it out of impulse, he didn’t think Evan was obliged to tell him anything too personal. Yet surprisingly, Evan seemed to grow calmer after he lifted up to meet Connor’s eyes.

 

“I just…...I feel like, I’m such a worthless prince…” At the end, he managed to squeeze out something, and that finally made Connor realized where the strange familiarity came from.

 

The boy beside him was just trying to describe his own feeling, but at the same time, those words also revealed the deepest part of his heart. This moment, Connor suddenly felt naked, like he’d been poked through and everything hidden been transparent. Both of his hands were clenched into fists under this weird illusion, as if he was trying to keep his only defence by that. But without noticing the change, Evan just continued speaking with a lower voice.

 

“......I am really bad at socializing with people. I can’t even finish a sentence without stuttering. My mother brings me with her this time, hoping that I can practice interacting with people, but not only did I run away, I even managed to break my arm falling off of a tree like an idiot.”

 

“......How do I even call myself a prince…?”

 

Through his words, the light in Evan’s eyes got dimmer. Letting out all the worries and insecurity he had repressed at once, he even choked up a little at the end of the sentence.

 

“......You are not stuttering right now.”

 

Evan widened his eyes with surprise as he looked back on what he just said and turned to Connor in amazement. At the time, Connor had recovered from his earlier uneasiness, and was gazing into the rain with a blank expression.

 

“I guess...sometimes, it just takes some time to change.”

 

Connor wasn’t sure whether he was saying that to himself or to Evan. Maybe he was just trying to make himself feel better by coming up with this self-deceptive words. But then seeing Evan’s sorrowful eyes now washed into light blue by the sparkles of hope, Connor had to admit that it felt pretty good actually.

 

“...Prince Connor, I want to apologize,” Evan said with the biggest smile on his face, as if Connor wasn’t some prince from the neighbor kingdom, who he had never met before a few hours ago, but a rather old friend.

 

“I, I always thought you would be a mean person, but I was wrong. It’s very nice of you to do all the things you did today…...thank you for everything.”

 

※

 

Even after all these years, until today, Connor could still remember everything. He remembered it was the first time forever someone looked at him with something different from fear or disgust. He remembered that afternoon, where everything was covered by the sound of heavy rain, where he finally felt peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [hey, here, it's them in the tree hole](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/post/163714660848/happily-ever-after-chapter-3-picture-perfect)
> 
> so, this was how they met for the first time! It's different from the script, what do you guys think?  
> Come talk to us! [Tumblr](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/)


	4. When it breaks

Recently, Evan seemed to have determined on coming to the tower everyday. He always picked the books that he found interesting and read them to Connor. Sometimes, he would comment a few words or randomly share some personal things of his. The tower was no longer filled with dead air.

 

Connor really couldn’t understand why Evan would be doing all these. It was true that he had helped him before. But even if it was Evan trying to pay for his kindness, it still didn’t make sense that someone would waste so much time on him. Wouldn’t he be worried about getting involved with him? All these questions kept spinning in Connor’s head. He tried to make sure that he was always prepared for going back to his boring life. Yet every morning, Evan came back to the tower like he always did. After a few times, Connor came to forget how dangerous it was to depend on this company. Without noticing it, he gradually threw all his questions behind his head and even started to look forward to every tomorrow.

 

Once, Evan picked up a joke book. In some pages, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing and could barely finish the sentence. In other pages, he didn’t seem to understand the joke and ended up just finishing it dumbly. Connor had to use all his strength to keep himself still and not to laugh at his reaction.

 

Once, Evan mentioned about a pavilion on the top of the Castle in the Ceres Kingdom. He said, if you looked far enough from there, you could see the most fecund ground and the most verdant forest in their kingdom. It was his favourite place in the castle. Connor couldn’t help but illustrate a vast expanse of green field in his mind and wondered if the real scene was as stunning as he imagined.

 

A week quickly passed by in this comfortable atmosphere. It wasn’t long, but it surely had occupied Connor’s mind. The past year was almost like a boring nightmare, distant and blurry.

 

This day, Evan came to the tower with a thick hardcover book. It was the first time he ever brought his own book. Connor was actually relieved to know that there were some new books to read. But as Evan read out the title of the book, Connor immediately regretted on expecting whatever the hell he was expecting.

 

**_The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees of the World_ **

 

On the contrary, Evan seemed really into it. He walked straight to sit on the windowsill and started to read the book from the prologue, which, according to Evan, was written by his royal mentor. Connor couldn’t help but wondered if Evan was born a tree nerd or he was misled by his teacher.

 

※

 

“Betula platyphylla, commonly called white birch. It is a medium to large sized tree that typically grows to 30-40 m tall with a pyramidal habit. This tree is noted for its white bark, thin spreading branches and slightly pendant branchlets…”

 

“ Picea asperata,  commonly called  dragon spruce. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 25-40 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. The shoots are orange-brown, with scattered pubescence…”

 

From species, features, use, to distribution area, Evan happily read over everything in the book, even the author’s annotation. He found it quite exciting to share some of his hobbies with other people.

 

However, his joy faded as quickly as the pages turning by his hand.

 

“......”

 

It was a withered leaf between the pages that cut off his voice. The leaf looked just as normal as other thousands of leaves that anyone could see on the road, but Evan was somehow distracted by it.

 

It was brought back from that forest, the one where he spent the afternoon after running away from the conference. Technically, Evan didn’t bring it back on purpose. It was from the branch which Connor used to fix his left arm. That year, after they made it back to the castle, he was sent to the doctor for proper treatment immediately. But for some reason, he picked up the greenest leaf on the branch and saved it before it was thrown away. Now that he thought about it, Evan guessed maybe he was trying to keep something to remember that special afternoon.

 

But running through this memory again right now, Evan couldn’t stop himself from noticing the strong contrary between the capable teenager in his memory and the one suffering in front of him. Evan eventually had to face the cruel reality that he had been escaping from for days. Even if he could convince himself that reading some pathetic books for Connor could count as helping him, even if he could bring some comfort to Queen Cynthia by doing all these, the truth is, there’s nothing he could help Connor with at all. The sleeping boy wouldn’t go back to what he had used to be. And in the end, the fake hope he had created for the mother would only drew more disappointment.

 

Maybe...maybe from the beginning, all he wanted to satisfy was himself. The pathetic Evan Hansen, who wanted to meet the cursed prince again, who desperately desired to be needed, who allow himself to indulge in the facade of happiness.

 

The negative thoughts were getting louder and louder. The sound almost covered his shaken breath. Evan could feel teardrops rolling down from his cheek onto the book and smudging some of the beautiful illustrations. He closed the book abruptly and used the back of his hands to rub his eyes, vainly trying to wipe out those endless tears.

 

Leaning on the side of the bookshelf, Evan could barely hold himself to stand up. The book fell on the ground as he tried to find balance, but he didn’t have room to care. He ignored the dizzying, noxious feeling from the back of his head and moved his legs slowly towards the door. He could no longer stay here, no one wanted a disgusting and selfish person like him to stay here.

 

However, when he passed by Connor’s bed, Evan couldn’t resist on taking one last look.

 

“I am so s-sorry...I c-can’t, wake y-you up...I’m sorry…”

 

Evan’s messy mumble was mixed in his short breathe and unstopping tears. It was difficult to understand, but it was the best he could do right now. Not giving himself any chance to regret, Evan turned his head and prepared to force his steps to quicken.

 

But just at the moment of turning away , Evan felt something tugging the hem of his shirt.

 

“Wait! I’m, I’m awake. Just, stop crying…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not active for such a long time! I went to Melbourne for 2 weeks and got really sick when I come back, so i'm gonna put 2 chapters!  
> And 《The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees of the World》is a real book, pretty cool huh haha


	5. Stay

There was still no sign for Evan’s tears to stop. The overwhelming emotion seemed to prevent him from reacting, and even breathing. All he could do was to stare, dumbstruck, at the uneasy teen in front of him with his puffy eyes.

“Just… calm down first, okay? Just breathe.”

 

Connor was panicking inside as well. He never considered letting Evan know anything about the failing curse, so he had nothing in mind on what to do now. Honestly, he was still surprised that he actually “woke up” in front of Evan.

In the first few weeks of this whole “curse” thing, Cynthia was often crying beside his bed, too. Whenever he noticed her repressed sobbing, he tried to clear up everything in his head and fall asleep for real, but most of the time it didn’work at all. At the end, he could only keep lying there awake, listening to Cynthia’s apology again and again. But, Evan was different from Cynthia. All this mess had nothing to do with him, and he didn’t deserve the heaviness of guilt. When Connor slightly opened his eyes, he saw Evan’s expression, so vulnerable that it seemed like he was gonna break, and he heard his apology for a fault that didn’t even exist. Suddenly, Connor couldn’t ignore the coldness in his chest as before. At that moment, he almost started to panic.

 

Many years after, when Connor recalled this memory, he found out that the reason of this unusual reaction was mostly because he knew he would lose the hope Evan had brought if he didn’t reach out his hand. But at that moment, he didn’t realize how much he needed it.

 

“Uh, I…Prince Connor, how did you…? I, I thought...”

 

After a few minutes, Evan finally steadied his breath, but was still very confused. While he managed to say something, he couldn’t even organize his words. Connor, on the other hand, had already figured out his explanation.

“Yeah, um, I’m fine. I guess that spell doesn’t work anymore.”

 

Connor’s explanation was a bit vague. He didn’t want to talk about where the whole lie came from, and he didn’t really think that boy needed to understand his situation. But Evan didn’t notice any of that, his face lit up once he heard the curse was gone. He even started to pace around excitedly.

 

“Oh my ceres, I, I…… this is wonderful! I have to tell Queen Cynthia──”

 

Before he could finish the sentence, Connor grabbed the waving hem of Evan’s shirt again to stop his action. The confused look on Evan’s face made him a little uncomfortable, but it didn’t stop him to continue.

“Wait, uh, I don’t want you to tell anyone about this, including my family.”

 

Evan’s expression went immediately from happy to startled. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to form a suitable reply. It had been a while when he finally squeezed out something.

“But, but why……?”

Connor didn’t know how he did it, but the fading of that smile clearly messed up Connor’s calmness. The excuse he just came up with suddenly disappeared, which left him no choice but to grab whatever popped out in his mind to say.

“It doesn’t matter. The point is that you have nothing to be sorry about, so stop coming here everyday to read books or whatever.”

 

……

 

“You, you know…? You were awake when I was, reading…?”

 

Shit.

 

Connor decided that he might as well shut up and just stared at him deadly. Usually, this could end almost every conversation easily. However, the fact was that he probably underestimated the stubbornness of this boy. Although he did flinch a little, he didn’t back up at all.

“When, when did you wake up…?”

 

“None of your business.”

 

Now, that should really be the end of this conversation. This time Connor made sure to make himself clear. He stood up from his bed, walking away from Evan. After a few moments of silence, Connor thought the other prince had probably left and would never came back this time. Yet, the voice behind him spoke again, trembling.

 

Despite of how weak the voice was, Connor heard it so loud and so clear that it almost felt like his heart would be crushed by it.

 

“Queen Cynthia…s-she has always been hoping you will wake──“

“That's because she forgot what I’m like when I am awake!”

The turbid anger came in such a sudden. Connor yelled so loudly that it even caused buzzing in his ears. He could feel the sweat streaming down his tensed up back. His fists were clenched up unconsciously. A whole year had passed, and he still didn’t forget how to be a lunatic.  _ Great. _

In seconds, the air around him turned into mud, disgusting and suffocating. Connor had to breathe deeply for oxygen, but the muddy……thing just rushed into his lungs with his breaths and tightened up his chest even more, leaving no space for his heart to beat. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he somehow managed to endure it and spoke again, for the guy behind him still had no sign of leaving.

“……you should leave now.”

 

With all the noxious feeling inside him, his voice came out as he gnashed his teeth. But the response was the opposite, as soft as cotton, mixed with concern and unsureness.

 

“Um, i-if I…uh, w-would you m-mind if I, s-stay……?”

 

Connor should say he would. He should tell him to fuck off. If staying would only lead to being hurt and ending up leaving anyway, he might as well just leave now. But, at the end, Connor couldn’t get any of that out of his mouth. All he could do was to kick over the chair beside the desk as a threat. As soon as he put all his strength in that action, he slid down to the floor uncontrollably, leaning on the side of his bed.

 

Even after all these, the boy behind him still didn’t leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit short but it's here!!  
> Come talk to us on Tumblr!

**Author's Note:**

> [ pss, click it.](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/post/163371981193/happily-ever-after-so-my-friend-and-i-wrote-sth)  
>  So yeah, I also draw something for this.  
> It's short, we know we know. Think of it as um "Previously on How I Met My True Love"? LOL  
> Come talk to us on [ Tumblr](http://seijishun.tumblr.com/%20)!


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